New Orleans Pelicans year in review: Bryce Dejean-Jones
By Rick Stone
The New Orleans Pelicans might have failed in other categories this season, but their investment in developing Bryce Dejean-Jones is a huge positive for the future of the team.
The New Orleans Pelicans had a difficult season to say the least. The injuries halted their progress as a team and the injuries could progress past this season to set the team back. However, the Pelicans did make one major decision that could actually become the focal point of this team’s resurrection going forward. They invested in youth.
After countless injuries to the starting squad, including starting shooting guard Eric Gordon, the New Orleans Pelicans decided to sign Bryce Dejean-Jones out of the D-League on January 20th. Dejean-Jones was a part of the Pelicans’ NBA Summer League team and had went from there to play on the NBA D-League’s Idaho Stampede. It seemed his signing at first was to just have a healthy body at that spot. However, the former UNLV and Iowa State standout shocked many with his play.
His numbers don’t stand out to the naked eye. He finished the season averaging 5.6 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per and 0.7 steals per contest in just under 20 minutes a night. Those aren’t fantastic numbers. What was more promising was his effort on the floor to improve. He struggled to shoot the ball and run the offense out of the gate, since he played his first game a day after signing with the team. He also went from six minutes in his third game to 35 minutes in his fourth due to the injury to Tyreke Evans in January. His role constantly evolved early on, and he adjusted.
It wasn’t about putting up massive numbers or taking over games. It was about his fit on the team. He filled in the areas that Eric Gordon shined in. He attacked the basket aggressively and forced the defense to help down on him when he got past his man. He opened the floor for his teammates and was able to get the offense in a fluid motion.
His weakness was his defensive awareness, but even that improved in time this season. At the beginning of his first 10-day contract, he helped off his man too much and he left his matchup space to find openings on him consistently. He also got beat off the dribble quite often. However, as the season progressed, his awareness on defense saw minor but significant improvements. The New Orleans Pelicans realized this player could actually develop into what they needed. He’s raw, but potentially could be a bench piece that fits the puzzle.
Dejean-Jones eventually earned himself an extension in the way of a three-year contract. That was mainly due to his effort all over the floor. If there was one lockdown fact about Dejean-Jones on the roster, it was that he desperately wanted to be in the NBA. He went after every loose ball and rebound with a burst of energy. Always wanting to help out by diving for a ball going out of bounds or putting his body on the line to attack a miss on the offensive glass, he left everything on the floor every night. That’s the effort New Orleans needs: the “Never Say Die” intensity on the floor every minute of the game. He brought that.
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Unfortunately, it also brought him a broken wrist in late February, which cost him the rest of his season. He was forced to sit out without getting another month and a half to show Alvin Gentry what he could bring to the bench unit. It’s a tough moment for a kid who had just given everything to earn himself his breakthrough deal in the NBA. He wanted to show his gratitude by bringing it all for the rest of the 2015-2016 season. Injuries beat this entire team up, including Dejean-Jones.
Let’s be honest. Bryce Dejean-Jones is not going to be a superstar at the Anthony Davis level, or even close to that. Still, the New Orleans Pelicans have cycled through backup shooting guards in the past five seasons like a conveyor belt. He’s not going to put up massive numbers on the stat sheet. He’ll have a breakout scoring game every once in a while, but he could mostly become a bench guard who is out there to give a break to the starting wings. One that actually fits the roster going forward. That’s a tough find in the NBA.
More so, this is finally a step in the direction this franchise has stayed so far away from since drafting Anthony Davis: developing young, raw talent. Dejean-Jones still needs work on defense and overall knowledge of plays, but that’s something the Pelicans can work on with him and improve his overall game as he progresses. He’s not a veteran player whose stuck with certain skills. He’s willing to take whatever Alvin Gentry teaches him and become a much better player than when he came to the team.
Next: New Orleans Pelicans year in review: Alexis Ajinca
This season could not have gone much better for Bryce Dejean-Jones. He got his contract and his chance to develop his game to the best it can be at the highest level of competition on the planet, and the New Orleans Pelicans got their first “project in the making” to work in a while. All in all, the Pelicans and Dejean-Jones’ pairing might be the changing force that helps this franchise go from this disappointing season into a path of growth and success in the near and long-term future.